Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-07-29/Traffic report

Traffic report

Namaste again, Reddit

Months ago, when four India-related topics appeared in the top 25, I predicted that the Traffic Report would eventually become a masala of American and Indian flavours. However, over time my prediction failed to materialise, as Indian topics gradually drifted out of the top list. Well, they're back now, and for the first time since this list began, have claimed both the top two slots. Another sudden returnee from seeming oblivion is Reddit, which had four topics in the top 25 for the first time in years.

For the full top-25 list, see WP:TOP25. See this section for an explanation of any exclusions. For a list of the most edited articles of the week, see here.


As prepared by Serendipodous, for the week of July 19 to 25, 2015, the 10 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages, were:

Rank Article Class Views Image Notes
1 Bajrangi Bhaijaan Start-class 1,510,842
Bollywood's Muslim-targeted counterprogramming to the raging box office tsunami of Baahubali: The Beginning, starring Hindu/Muslim superstar Salman Khan (pictured) and opening on Eid weekend, has managed to make Rs 2 billion ($31.2 million) in its first nine days, and earned support from legends like Shekhar Kapur. It is the first Bollywood film to cross the 2 billion mark this year. But Khan's tweets in apparent support of Bombay bomber Yakub Memon have led to posters for the film being defaced in some areas.
2 Baahubali: The Beginning C-class 1,191,758
At $41 million, this sprawling, two-part historical epic is the most expensive film in Indian history (no, it isn't actually Bollywood, since it was made in South India, much to Bollywood's chagrin). Starring the Telugu actor Prabhas (pictured), the first part, subtitled "The Beginning", broke box office records upon its release on July 10, earning Rs 2.15 billion ($34 million) worldwide in just 5 days and in just two weeks has already crossed the Rs 4 billion ($62 million) mark.
3 Ant-Man (film) C-class 1,002,486 Other than Guardians of the Galaxy, this was always going to be Marvel Studios's biggest gamble, and signs did not augur well after writer-director Edgar Wright abandoned the project when refused total creative control. And yet, while it is hardly the box-office miracle that Guardians was, it has so far outperformed Thor, another questionably saleable debut property.
4 Memphis Pyramid C-class 839,800
As noted in a Reddit thread this week, this Bass Pro Shops megastore is the tenth largest pyramid in the world, slightly behind the Bent Pyramid.
5 Donald Trump B-Class 661,692
The bombastic real estate developer and media personality continues his improbable rise to the top of Republican politics, much to the horror of the Republican establishment, who have been cheering for his sudden, swift downfall for weeks. But it appears nothing, not doxxing one of his opponents on live television, not insulting John McCain's war record, can dent his popularity in the run up to the controversial Fox News Republican debate, inclusion for which will be decided according to fairly meaningless national poll numbers.
6 Tutankhamun B-class 646,844
The turbulent, short life of the boy king, son of the heretic ruler Akhenaten, was the subject of a miniseries on Spike TV this week, which saw ratings for the usually male-skewing network double.
7 Tsar Bomba B-Class 602,258
The largest single explosion ever detonated by mankind (not the image at left, which is free to use) had a mushroom cloud seven times higher than Mount Everest and rattled windows 900 km away, as learned in a Reddit thread this week.
8 Battleground (2015) Start-class 592,797
The WWE's latest pay-per-view pantomime was performed at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
9 Deaths in 2015 List 535,850
The viewing figures for this article have been remarkably constant; fluctuating week to week between 450,000 and 550,000, apparently heedless of who actually died.
10 Death of Sandra Bland Start-class 524,160 The death in police custody of this 28-year-old African American woman has been ruled a suicide, though the protests that greeted the ruling have highlighted its significance against a mounting backdrop of police violence against African Americans in recent months.